OpenAI Fails to Register GPT Trademark

In a recent development in the tech industry, OpenAI has faced a setback in its attempt to trademark the abbreviation GPT, which stands for Generative Pre-trained Transformer.

The company has been striving to prevent other entities from using the acronym GPT ever since the launch of its AI chatbot, ChatGPT, in November 2022. This chatbot garnered global interest in technology and sparked an AI arms race.

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has consistently denied OpenAI’s request for ownership rights over the GPT abbreviation. The latest rejection came this month when the office stated that the acronym was merely descriptive and did not provide specific details about a feature or function of the company’s product.

GPT refers to the Pre-trained Generative Transformer, a set of previously trained neural network models capable of generating text and images in a manner resembling human-like output.

The refusal by the US Patent and Trademark Office highlights the importance of providing distinct and concrete details when seeking trademark registration, particularly for widely recognized acronyms in the tech industry.

This development underscores the challenges faced by companies in protecting their intellectual property and branding in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. OpenAI’s unsuccessful bid to secure the GPT trademark serves as a cautionary tale for firms navigating the complex terrain of intellectual property rights in the digital age.